Teaching in Bangalore, India

I arrived in Bangalore on December 1st, after finishing an Intensive Reformer training in Mumbai. I was scheduled to start teaching an Intensive Mat Plus course at the Zone Mind and Body Studio in Bangalore the next day. It was a long drive in from the airport to the hotel and the traffic was intense! This city has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade, but the roads have yet to catch up with the increased traffic! I was staying in a very nice condo hotel that was an easy walk to the studio. My hosts, Anjali and Sharat Sareen picked me up the next day and took me to their beautiful studio. This was an oasis of calm and beauty after the noisy atmosphere of the Gold’s Gym in Mumbai. I enjoyed hanging out in the lounge or on one of the open air balconies before and after the training.

Most of the students in the IMP course had been training with Anjali and Sharat for a couple of years. It really helped to have some experienced students in the group and of course to have Anjali co-teaching with me. That was a first for me and it took me a while to get used to having someone else there to teach. Anjali made it very easy though and we had a great time together.
They were also extremely generous in taking me out to dinner several times and of course on our whirlwind shopping extravaganza! I had such a great time that day and really found some gorgeous things to take home with me! I only wish there had been more time for seeing some of the area around Bangalore. This was a whirlwind trip in more ways than one! The course went by so quickly that in no time we were at the end of the course, practicing those difficult intermediate exercises!

Fortunately, this was not on the day when we went out to eat the giant paper dosas! What a delicious food this is, but as you can see, it is not small in size!

I had such fun working with this group. I hope they continue to practice and improve their teaching skills. It is fortunate that most of them have Anjali and Sharat to observe and work with while they prepare for their exams.

The Ultimate Girl’s Night Out…in ITALY!

Posted by Trisha Hatfield Graves
In early 2007, I received an email from the owner of a “Learning/Wellness Retreat”, The Cascina Papaveri in Italy. They were interested in having me serve as the Featured International Pilates Instructor for two weeks in June. This retreat was the dream child of a retired British / Kiwi couple in their 70’s, conceived from their dedication to health, their love of Italy, a mutual enjoyment for farming…and their 20-year relationship with Pilates. They also possessed an insatiable interest in people, so, several years ago founded and purchased “The Cascina Papaveri” (The Poppy Farm), consisting of a huge historic farmhouse on an organic farm and vineyard, perched on a hill overlooking miles of rustic northern Italian countryside. This not only became their new home, but was remodeled to provide 10 beautiful 5-Star guests rooms, each with its own private bath. The lower floor of the farm house became an open-breezeway gym, lap pool, sauna / steam rooms and the largest fully-equipped Pilates studio in Europe. They had contacted me because they wanted to bring something different to the retreat for “Women’s Week” and saw that I taught Pole Dancing as well as Pilates.

I was quite honored because this retreat is recognized as featuring “best of the best” in international Pilates instructors. Most of their featured instructors can boast of having DVDs, books and TV spots…and “a following”. I simply owned The Pilates Center of Olympia, a small local studio, and my ‘followers’ consisted of several handfuls of loyal clients, most of whom could not afford the $2499 to take this trip. The pole dancing facet, however, really intrigued the Cascina’s owners, and the philosophies around providing women with an avenue through which to connect with their sensuality seemed like something their guests might enjoy.

I explained that the pole dancing was a package deal. My daughter, Cally, and I co-teach the classes together; spotting, assisting and guiding women. Five months later Cally and I were on our flight to Milan, Italy with two rifle cases containing our heavy-duty removable commercial poles capable of extending to their fourteen foot ceiling. The rifle cases had been revamped a bit, embossed with an aluminum veneer and butterfly pattern, which did not detract from their 60 pound weight!

When we arrived at the Cascina we found waiting for us, three British women; one working for the office of the Prime Minister, a lawyer from London, a woman training to become a Pilates instructor; and 3 Americans. One of these comrades was my client and two were a married couple from Chicago. All looking for a good time to relax, get healthy; and “let their hair down” so to speak.

Guests received multiple amenities, among them, unlimited daily Pilates (both apparatus and mat; taught by me), unlimited use of the gym, lap pool, and sauna/steam room; daily Culinary Arts classes, all meals beautifully prepared using market fresh ingredients and organic produce from the farm; unlimited Private Label wine from the Cascina’s own grapes, trips to local village markets and an added bonus with Cally and I there…unlimited Pole Dancing for Fitness!

Cally and I were put up in a gorgeous little apartment in the village and walked the three miles to and from the retreat each day. It was the most incredible mother-daughter adventure, and with our philosophies around “Women Empowering Women” this represented taking our ‘show’ on the road! The British women loved the liberating experience of pole dancing and while playfully cheering the ladies on one day to “smack their fanny”, one diplomatically explained to me that …ahem…“fanny” means something quite different in Britain.

Out of literally thousands of Pilates instructors worldwide vying for an opportunity to serve as the retreat’s featured instructor, I am humbled and ecstatic that they chose to feature me again last summer. Cally couldn’t go, so I brought another of my instructors, Heather Christopher and 7 clients of my own. We had another wonderful visit. For more info Email Trisha Hatfield Graves:trisha@pilatesatplay.com or Visit: www.cascinapapaveri.com